As reported recently by the National Statistics Agency, Kazakhstan's trade deficit rose to USD 1,801m in 1998 from USD 627.2m in 1997. CIS countries received 42% of Kazakhstan's total exports compared with 48% in the previous year. Kazakhstan's main trading partners have been Russia, Italy, Great Britain, China, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, the Ukraine, Estonia, Turkey, Finland, and the USA. CIS counties accounted for 49% of Kazakhstan's imports in 1998; the same as in 1997.

As of the end of December 1998, the money supply in Kazakhstan totalled KZT 148.6bn (USD 1.74bn), down by 3.7% from the start of the year. The MO decreased by 26% over the course of the year and totalled KZT 68.7bn (USD 0.81bn) as of 1 January 1999. In December 1998, Kazakhstan issued 3.2bn Tenge worth of notes.

Compared to 1997, the average wage in Kazakhstan grew 12.2% to KZT 9,682 (USD 123.7) in 1998.

At the end of January 1998, the number of officially registered unemployed people in Kazakhstan was 247,900 or 3.7% of the workforce.

In 1998, Kazakhstan's privatisation revenues totalled KZT 67.1bn (USD 788m) compared with KZT 56.5bn in 1997. Most of the revenues—98.4% of the total—were proceeds from the sales of shares in privatised companies. In 1998, Kazakhstan privatised 3,073 companies compared with 6,777 in the previous year. (Reuters)

According to the National Statistics Agency, Kazakhstan posted a 26,872 tonne copper output in January 1999, which was down 10.7% compared with December 1998. Other metal outputs were as follows: zinc—21,198 tonnes (+0.6% MoM change); lead—8.1 tonnes (+0.4% MoM); bauxite—247,900 tones (-17.0% MoM); alumina—97.8 tonnes (-0.7% MoM). (Reuters)

Kazakhstan's crude oil production slipped in January to 2.094 million tonnes from 2.183 million tonnes in December, says the latest monthly report from the National Statistics Agency. According to the same source, the natural gas output fell by 9.0% to 0.658 billion m³. The production of gasoline dropped by 37.2% to 113,100 tonnes and the production of fuel oil decreased by 40.6% to 163,100 million tonnes. (Reuters)

According to the National Securities Commission (NSC), as of 1 January 1999, the market capitalisation of shares listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) totalled KZT 137,361.843m (USD 1,616m). The volume of equity transactions increased to KZT 281,290,000 in 1998 from KZT 165,129,400 in 1997. Government securities transactions were concluded to the amount of KZT 15.2bn. The NSC noted a steady growth of government securities turnover on the KASE as the investment potentials of asset management companies increased throughout 1998. The volume of state stakes sold last year on the KASE totalled KZT 1.29bn. (Interfax)

The Kazakhstani Government intends to submit a draft law on private land ownership rights to the parliament in late March, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Zhanybek Karibjanov, said at a press conference on Thursday. Pursuant to the law, only Kazakhstani citizens born in Kazakhstan will have the right to buy land. However, a proposal has been put forth saying that Kazakh repatriates should be able to enjoy this right as well. In addition to the law, 26 legal documents are being prepared to deal with land pricing, taxation, etc. The draft law appeared in newspapers on 8 February. According to the legal procedures, it will be passed to the Kazakhstani Parliament after all proposals and comments on the draft law have been finalised. (Interfax)

The rating agency Fitch IBCA reduced its long-term currency rating of Kazakhstan to "BB-" from "BB". A statement issued by the agency says that "Kazakhstan has suffered from sharp declines in the prices of its main exports, a drought-stricken harvest and the Russian crisis". The agency has left its short-term foreign currency rating at "B" and its long-term local currency rating at "B". The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Uraz Dzhandosov, said that this rating downgrading will not significantly reduce the amount of direct investment in Kazakhstan which is expected to be USD 1.2-1.3bn this year. He added that the government's reaction has been calm since Kazakhstan does not intend to borrow on international capital markets in the near future.

Shortly after Fitch issued its ratings, Moody's Investor's Service also cut Kazakhstan's foreign currency ceiling for bonds and notes to B1 from Ba3 and the ceiling for foreign currency bank deposits to B2 from B1. The bonds issued by the Republic of Kazakhstan have accordingly been downgraded to B1 from B3. Moody's also downgraded the issuer rating of the Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operation Company (KEGOC) to B1 from B3 and the foreign currency bank deposits rating of Halyk Savings Bank to B1 from B2. According to Moody's, "the persistence of low oil prices and the worsening prospects for a substantial amount of its exports destined for the CIS region have exposed Kazakhstan to greater balance of payments risks in the short-run". (Reuters)